ASSURANCE OF HEAVEN

Jesus gives heavenly assurance when He speaks of "My Father's house" - a familiar expression for heaven (John 14:2).  Philo, the Jewish philosopher, wrote of a soul returning "into the father's house," meaning heaven (Bernard, John, III:531). Jesus assures us that He is going (futuristic present) to prepare a place for us in His Father's house. Sandwiched between the opening phrase, "in My Father's house," and the closing assurance, "to prepare a place," is a clause that requires some attention.

The clause - "if it were not so, I would have have told you" - can be translated as either a question or a statement. As a question, it reads, "If it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (ESV, NIV)  As a statement, it reads, "If it were not so I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you." (NASB, KJV) There were no punctuation marks in the original manuscripts so either translation is possible. The interpretation hinges on the little word, οτι, which can be translated either as "that" or "for/because." If we translate οτι as "that," we will read the clause as a question. If we translate οτι as "because," we will read the clause as a statement.

I don't think we should understand the clause as a question because Jesus never told them before that He was going to prepare a place for them so the question would be meaningless. I think it is best to understand οτι as "because" making the preceding clause parenthetical.  I connect the final clause - "because I go to prepare a place for you" - with the first clause - "in My Father's house are many dwelling places" - making the middle clause a parenthesis. There are many rooms in heaven because He is going to prepare them for us.

"In My Father's house there are many rooms (but if not, I would have told you) because I am going to prepare a place for you."

Jesus reassures us that there is room in heaven for us or He would have warned us not to expect a room in heaven. He left earth to prepare a place for us in heaven.  The word "place" (τοπον) meant a room to live, stay or sit (BAGD, Lexicon). The word "to prepare" (ετοιμασαι) was commonly used for preparations made for someone coming to visit (Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary, p.258). Jesus is preparing our rooms for our homecoming much like a parent prepares the room of  a child coming home from college. Our assurance is that Jesus would have warned us not to expect a homecoming if this was not true.

Praise God for the promise of our homecoming!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Civil War background)

BELIEVE IN ME!

Why command believers to believe?

Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the Upper Room when He commanded them to "believe also in Me" (John 14:1). These were men who were already believers - every one of them!  Judas, the betrayer, has left the room. Only believers remain, yet Jesus ordered them to believe. Why?

The answer is found in the tense of the verb "believe" (πιστευετε).  This is a present tense verb. The present tense emphasizes continuing faith - ongoing faith - no matter what comes.  They could not know the crucible they were being thrown into in the next few hours. The fires of hell would soon test their faith.  We too cannot know the severe tests that will search our faith, and we must obey the command to continue to believe no matter what comes. True faith is persevering faith.

A saving faith is a growing faith. Jesus says, "believe in Me" (εις εμε).  The "in me" is emphatic. The preposition (εις) indicates motion towards a person or thing. There is a sense of movement in real faith.  We are not merely convinced that the teachings of Jesus are true or that he lived in history.  We are moving into a deepening sense of His nearness to help and His power to meet our needs. 

"There is a faith that accepts the words spoken and a faith that accepts the person who speaks. The former is only part of the latter" (S. Lewis Johnson, Private notes). 

We are growing to trust Him not just His words. We trust His character not just His teachings. We trust His love not just His doctrine. We trust He will never let us down even when we don't know how He will hold us up.

WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?

The opening verses of John 14 are among the most familiar, precious and comforting verses in the Bible. I hesitate to disturb our familiarity with questions about the text, yet significant questions are raised by the text.  One of those questions pertains to the translation of "believe" or "trust" in verse one.

Jesus uses the word "believe" (πιστευετε) twice.  Jesus says, "Believe in God, believe also in Me" (NASB). Or does He say, "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me" (KJV)? Or perhaps Jesus says, "Believe in God, you are believing in Me"? Or is it, "You are believing in God, you are believing in Me" (Luther)? All 4 translations are grammatically possible (Meyer, John, pp. 406-407). Which translation accurately expresses the thought of Jesus?

The form of the verb "believe" (πιστευετε) is ambiguous. There are 4 ways these verbs could be translated. 1) Both verbs are imperatives (commands). 2) The first verb is an indicative (statement of fact) and the second is a command. 3) The first verb is a command and the second is a statement. 4) Both verbs are indicatives making factual statements. It is a matter of interpretation since all four translations are grammatically correct. The question boils down to the precise point that Jesus is making in this verse.

Many argue that Jesus was commanding both faith in God and faith in Him. The two verbs should be translated the same way according to many. However, I think that Jesus recognized they had faith in God already, but they needed to trust Him. I think that Jesus said, "You trust (statement of fact) in God, trust (command) in Me also" (Helen Barrett Montgomery). He has just predicted that He is leaving the disciples and that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed. These are troubling predictions that raise doubts about what Jesus is doing. Jesus was not commanding them to believe God. They were pious Israelites. He knew they believed God. Jesus was commanding them to trust Him. After all, He was the one troubling them with these predictions.

For the Christian, trusting Jesus personally is inseparable from trusting God.  Yet trusting Jesus personally is essential to being a Christian - a unique mark of a Christian.  Many believe God. Many are religious. Many populate our churches. Many claim to be Christian. Yet no one is a Christian who fails to trust Christ for no one comes the Father but through the Son (14:6)!